Added another Skidder

[smwwoody]

I picked up a nice Franklin Q80c Yesterday.



Wow what a horse.  This thing handles our big Barko loader much better than the old 170.  The feller buncher operator is building drags twice as big as he did for the 170

[HiTech]

That sure is a Big Boy's Toy. Nice looking machine. That baby should pull some wood. Good luck.

[timberlinetree]

That is a monster. Congratulations, it looks really good! She'll move some wood!

[loggah]

Those Q80's are quite a tractor, lot more iron in them than the old 170's. I still liked the center oscillation on the old ones.

[smwwoody]

yea that center oscillation is tough to beat.  The Q80 looked like an elephant riding a skate board on the trailer but i moved it 60 miles and it did just fine.  friday we will be able to see how it really does there are about 35 drags layed out for it.  we set the loader in place yesterday at the end of the day on the new job so we are ready to roll with it first thing friday.  I want to keep the old 170 as a backup and to run with the Q80 when we have a long skid.

[chester_tree _farmah]

Nice machine!

[Firewoodjoe]

Are the parts still easy to get?

[smwwoody]

parts are no problem for the franklins.  most are off the shelf parts.  winches axles and trannys are franklin only but aftermarket parts has most of that covered.  most people are scared of the parts and that helps keep the price down on the franklin skidders

[RayMO]

Very nice skidder but the truck would excite me more right now . Hauling logs on a gooseneck is for the birds .

[smwwoody]

after running them both for a few years (848 and 545) my skidder opp says he doesnt see much difference between the Q80 a 545 cat and a 848 john deere.  the biggest difference he saw was that the 545 is faster

[Maine logger88]

Nice looking machine!

[loggah]

I dont think a Q80 will brake you when you need parts ,like the big Cats and John Deeres!!!! ;D I think you could pick up two Q80's for what the big Cat or John Deere costs also !!!! :laugh: A buddy of mine runs a Q80 and he hasn't had many problems with it.

[clww]

Congratulations on your new monster machine! :new_year:

[Firewoodjoe]

Q80 equal to a 848 and 545. So what would the Q90 be like? 😳

[Southside]

Nice machine, best of luck with her.  What does that monster weigh?  What does it have for an engine? 

[smwwoody]

She weighs in at 19 ton. It has a 6bt cummins @ 220 hp

[smwwoody]

my skidder operator to the day off friday to hunt so I got to run the Q80 for a few hours.  it comes through the woods the same loaded  or empty.  I like it a lot.  You dont need much skill to pull a big drag just pick it up and drive to the loader